AI-generated pet videos and short dramas turn into a monetization business
A TMTPost/Zinc Scale report says AI-generated cat-and-dog clips and short dramas are spreading across Douyin, Xiaohongshu, YouTube and TikTok, with Douyin's #AI萌宠 topic reaching 2.64 billion cumulative views and more than 124,000 participating creators. Cited examples include 《胖橘的故事》 at 103 episodes and over 190 million views, and 《AI猫咪演绎人生系列》 at 127 episodes and over 450 million views. The article describes monetization through brand deals, in-video storefront sales, paid tutorials and apprenticeships, citing third-party data that account @LT 小狗日记 commands up to 80,000 yuan per custom ad while @川岛小猪 charges 4,500 yuan per post and has taken eight brand deals including KFC, Haidilao and FamilyMart. It says the workflow is DeepSeek for scripts, Jimeng or Kling for images and video, and CapCut for editing, producing a clip in 15–30 minutes — though templated content is now crowding the niche and making monetization harder for smaller accounts.
It suggests the biggest commercial use of generative video so far is cheap, repeatable pet entertainment rather than film or advertising production.